Various methods and devices have been proposed for supporting catheter drainage bags and tubes. For example, supports for attaching a bag to a side bar of a hospital bed are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,036 to Price, U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,897 to Serany, Jr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,598 to Waldman, Jr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,965 to Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,842 to Mittleman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,352 to Meisch, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,252 to Taylor. The devices shown in these patents are not adaptable for use when a patient is sitting in a chair of wheelchair, because these devices are designed for attachment to a bar or bed rail structure.
Several systems for supporting a catheter bag and tube from a wheelchair are known in the art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,809 to Samuel, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,159 to Sieklucki, et al., but these systems are complicated apparatuses having many expensive specially-manufactured parts. Neither of these systems has come into widespread use.
The commonly used method of supporting a catheter bag and tube from a chair or a wheelchair involves hanging the bag from the back of the chair or wheelchair with a bent coat hanger or string attached to the back of the chair. The coat hanger or string is then connected to the brake handle of the wheelchair. This makeshift method of supporting the bag and tube suffers from numerous drawbacks. The catheter bag is often hung higher than the patient's bladder, such that fluids do not drain from the tubing to the bag. Moreover, with the bag supported near the back of the wheelchair, there is always a danger that the tube will be pulled taut and cause trauma to the patient. The bag is susceptible to being struck by the person pushing the chair. There is also a possibility that the catheter tube will become kinked. When the bag is attached near the side of the wheelchair, there is a danger that the bag will be struck by persons and objects around the chair or be caught in the wheel of the wheelchair.
Another drawback of prior art methods of supporting a drainage tube and bag is that the bag is usually hung at a location where it is visible to others. A location under the center front portion of the seat is preferable, because the bag is obscured by the patient's gown and legs and the privacy of the patient is preserved.
Thus, a need presently exists for a method of supporting a drainage bag and tube from a chair which is simple and inexpensive and which securely, yet removably, supports the drainage bag from the front of the wheelchair seat out of view and away from the wheels and other objects.